00:00So, Shantanu, see you heard the entire detail from this lady who explained to us when it all started, what
00:08is the preparation, how many are volunteers who are involved. It's quite a hard work. I mean, there's a lot
00:14of effort in creating history, isn't it?
00:17Exactly. Close to 30 lakh Diyas and these are not like what Akhilesh Adav suggests like the electric Diyas. Real
00:26Ardhan Pot Diyas with oil and Baati traditional and 30 lakhs of them. And as Yogi Atanath was mentioning that
00:34it gets, it reminds us of the Treta Ki Ayodhya.
00:37And I have written three books on Ramayana. I have read that how Valmiki Ji and even Acharya Tutsidas has
00:43described that how Ayodhya was lit. Everybody was so joyous. They were searching what clothes to wear, what flowers to
00:50petal around. And exactly now we are seeing the glimpse of that kind of Ayodhya.
00:54What I find in Valmiki's description and Tutsidas' description and these girls and boys, how they're describing and how they're
01:01into it. They're not doing it as a task. They're taking pride in it. They're taking pride in the city.
01:06So, just to juxtapose how this city was 10 years back, as I was mentioning earlier, it was a godforsaken
01:13city. It was a city, disputed city. You have always like a police chavani whenever any Supreme Court, High Court
01:19verdict was coming.
01:20And now it's going to create the 9th Guinness Book of World Record. Really marvellous what we have seen in
01:25our lifetimes.
01:29Okay. So, did you take permission from your parents before coming here? Why don't you just walk, climb a little.
01:35Tell me.
01:36You took permission from your parents?
01:38Yes, I did.
01:38You were happy?
01:39Yes, definitely. Why don't you?
01:41What did they say?
01:41They told me that it is definitely a privilege to be a part of the Potsub as a student because
01:46they did not get that opportunity as when they were as a student.
01:50So, they did send me, although they did ask me about the security options and the timing and all.
01:56And they were definitely happy to send me here.
01:58Despite the fact that we'd also have to light up the hours at our home also.
02:02You'll be going to your home and then lighting up the hours there as well.
02:05So, there's a two-shift work, but they were still happy to send me.
02:08So, what does it feel to be a resident of Ayodhya now?
02:13I'm sure your parents tell you what it was a few years ago to now.
02:17What, according to them, has changed?
02:19And as a girl who's growing up in Ayodhya, is it, you know, there are a lot of questions that
02:26are often asked in terms of safety, security.
02:29Is it safe?
02:30Definitely, for me, as I don't, I'm not very, you know, social, I have not, I have not had so
02:35much social interaction to actually understand what is the security status.
02:39But personally, I have not felt that Ayodhya is pretty unsafe.
02:42For girls, it is definitely safe.
02:44They can roam around at night, although I don't have as such an experience, but I can say it is
02:49definitely safe.
02:50It's safe?
02:51Definitely, because I have had some incidents with my friends.
02:54They tell me that it's safe, they can roam around carefree if they have their parents' permission.
03:00Okay.
03:01So, tell me, I mean, is this for the first time you're coming on?
03:04When was the last time you came here for this volunteer service?
03:08Last year I came, and this is my second time here as a volunteer, and it is definitely a privilege
03:13for me.
03:14Because last time I was, it was more different.
03:16We didn't have those transformers and all.
03:18And I remember very vividly that, oh, definitely, one year is a very big time span for things to change.
03:24It is definitely visible around here.
03:26So, you know, these are stories of lived experiences, isn't it, Professor Badri Narayan?
03:32Please continue.
03:33You know, someone who said that last year, this transformer that I can see with my eyes was not there.
03:41Now it is, so they're talking about increased electricity connections, something that will ensure, will become a talking point ahead
03:49of this election, isn't it?
03:51Yes, Maria.
03:52Yes, Maria, you are very right that this is the way they are, Yogi Adityanath is promoting this temple-based
04:01development, temple as anchor for development in the region.
04:04So, it is also going to affect politics, the economy is going to affect politics, you see the pyramid of
04:10BJP strategy on the top culture, then economy, and then politics.
04:17So, these all three are submerged with each other and create an impact and discusses in this election.
04:23And then you see, Maria, Shantum has rightly said that it is a reinvention of tradition, reinvention of what was
04:32in the Ramayani time, they have reinvented in a new way, and tried to make a kind of popular culture
04:39in India.
04:41So, in this election, Ayodhya is going to be discussed in various ways, and the one way is the message
04:50which Yogi Adityanathji wanted to give, that there is the kind of inclusion, symbol of inclusion, of Girivasi, Adivasi, Jalivasi,
05:00and everyone, everyone of the society.
05:04And they all together forms an electoral base of any foreign political party, so he is going to give message
05:13for subalterns, and also everyone, that Ayodhya, as an anchor of developmental model, cultural model, and political model, and it
05:24is going to be supplemented into various parts of the place.
05:28So, you must have seen that Balmiki Janthi, on the day of Balmiki Janthi, he went to the Bidhu, and
05:33he has announced a lot of developmental schemes, plans there.
05:39So, the other, there are various kinds of attempts of revolving temple, as a centre of developmental imagination of the
05:47state, and which Ayodhya, Adityanath, you want to push, Ayodhya, Kashi, maybe Pichu, tomorrow, maybe Gorakhpur is already there, Kapilvastu.
05:59So, various centres will be, will be anchored for the development. And, of course, the Samariwali party will come with
06:06the Chanda Chauri debate, but you know, as Shantanu has rightly said, if you go in the grassroots and talk
06:13to the people,
06:14Chanda Chauri, whatever the issues are, I have revolved the last few months ago, will not walk electorally to mobilise
06:24public for the elections, either for or against. So, there are other issues, will come, they will dominate the election
06:34of Uttar Pradesh.
06:35Okay, before I move on, I want a word from Shantanu. Shantanu, for our viewers, recall what Valmiki has written
06:45in Ramayana about Diputsa and Diwali.
06:50You know, because the fireworks, if you remember Shantanu, that we saw on 24th January 2024, when the ceremony happened
06:59in Ayodhya, and the massive event happened in the presence of who's who, of the entire country and the world,
07:07to now.
07:09You know, just recall for our viewers what has been mentioned there.
07:14So, Maria, both Valmiki Ramayan and Utsi Ramayan describe in great detail that how the people of Ayodhya were waiting
07:23for Rama, and it was said multiple times that Rama was super popular, which is like equivalence to the Tumez
07:29democracy, which is where a leader is elected based on his popularity.
07:32Rama was super popular, people were waiting, people were very angry with KK, what happened 14 years back, and they
07:39were tracking each and every day.
07:40And as he come back, they wanted to invite him in a very joyous Ayodhya, in a very prosperous looking
07:48Ayodhya, in a very, very, very lit Ayodhya.
07:50And that's why Diputsa, meaning a line of Diyas, a Pankti of Diyas, right, and a massive Diyas were lit
07:57there even then.
07:58And now we are seeing, as Yogi Adnati rightly said, we are seeing the indication of Treta Ki Ayodhya in
08:04Kalyuk, and everybody is wearing the best of their clothes as if there's a function in their own house.
08:09People were showering petals on each other.
08:12So it's a beautiful description, how each and everyone was waiting for Rama for 14 years.
08:17They were hearing a lot of, because with the roaming saints, they used to hear a lot of stories.
08:21They heard that he has killed, he has defeated Ravana, and he's coming back.
08:26And mind you, when Rama came back, he first went to a village called Nandigram, where Bharata was staying.
08:33Bharata never stayed in the palace for those 14 years.
08:35The real, so to say, ruler was Shatrugana, through the instruction of Bharata.
08:40So he first went to Bharata, and that also showed the love between the brothers.
08:44And he fessed him, and then all of them came to Ayodhya, and then the Rajabhishek of Rama happened, and
08:51that's why we celebrate Diwali.
08:53And we all lit Diyas in our house, but Ayodhya was never lit before last 10 years.
08:58And now we see the real Ayodhya, the way Ayodhya was thousands and thousands years back in Krita Yuga, in
09:04Kalyuga,
09:05thanks to Yogi Atanath, that he was able to see us the glimpse of what Valmiki and what Tulsi Dazi
09:09has written in their kavyas.
